


Heaven's Eyes

by luxshine



Category: Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, Popslash
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-20
Updated: 2011-03-20
Packaged: 2017-10-17 04:17:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/172811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luxshine/pseuds/luxshine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chris and Howie look after their friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heaven's Eyes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Milosflaca](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Milosflaca).



> This was written for my best friend's Milosflaca's birthday, back in 2006

“Hey”

“Hey”

Howie sat next to Chris, who seemed to be watching the party as if thinking of ways to cause trouble. At least, that was what it looked like to anyone who didn’t know Chris the way Howie did. Howie knew that what Chris was doing was keeping an eye on his four band mates, the same way Howie kept an eye on his.

“We heard about your record, congratulations, Chris,” Howie said, softly, not taking his eyes away from AJ, who was chatting up a blonde girl wearing an almost see-through shirt. “It’s good to be away from Pearlman, isn’t it?”

“It’s the second best thing that has ever happened to me,” Chris laughed. “AJ seems to be having fun, doesn’t he?”

“Not as much as Joey,” Howie pointed out with his drink to the other end of the room, where Joey was flirting with two girls at the same time. The two womanizer members of both bands were easy to spot exactly because of that. You only needed to find the women with most curves, and they were going to be pretty near.

“He’s just having fun, D, nothing serious,” Chris smiled, and, casually, flung his arm over Howie’s shoulder, just in time for someone to take a picture. The rumors about the rivalry of both bands weren’t as high as they had been in the beginning, but they were still strong, especially when both groups were working for the same label again. A friendly picture of two members of said bands always brought interesting captions, but Chris didn’t pay attention to the flash. He had other worries in his mind. “Your guys still hate us?”

“Hate is a bit of a strong word,” Howie sighed, leaning a little against Chris’s shoulder. “I think Nick finally arrived at the ‘strong dislike’ stage. Kevin, on the other hand, is still planning mass murder.”

“That’s like, negative points, man,” Chris tightened his grip on Howie’s shoulder for a moment. “Not good if we want to tell them.”

“Which is why we’re not going to tell them,” Howie shook his head, letting go of Chris. “Look, I’ve got to go, or Kevin’s going to start asking questions. See you in a week?”

“You know you will,” Chris smiled sadly. He hated when Howie cut their time together short.

* * *

As anyone who cared to read an article about either group would know, Chris and Howie had meet years earlier, when both were in the Valencia choir. They hadn’t had any friends in common, were considered to be perfect opposites in personality, and if someone had drawn a casual poll on the subject, no one would believe they would become friends.

However, a couple of months into the semester, Chris lost his choir schedule, and the only one he could find who had an extra copy was Howie. From that simple conversation, they found that their love for music was common ground enough to start a friendship.

A month later, when they had some free time, they were always together, inseparable. Howie brought some order to Chris’s chaos, while Chris managed to bring Howie out of his shy shell. And maybe Chris’s friends didn’t care much for the polite younger man, and maybe Howie’s friends thought that Chris was a weird freak, but they didn’t care.

Their first kiss was as accidental as their friendship. Howie dropped his text book, Chris went to pick it up, at the same time Howie did the same thing, and literally, they tripped, and their lips brushed together as they stumbled forward in a very sudden first kiss.

Later, Howie would tell Chris that those kind of things could only happen to Chris.

Later, both would agree that their happiest moments were those last months at Valencia.

* * *

“Hey, man! Nice to see you,” Chris was grinning when he hugged Howie. The relationship between the two groups had been mended now, which meant that they could be a lot more open with their friendship when they were in public. At least, Chris didn’t fear that AJ would try to beat his ass. “I missed you.”

“For the record, it wasn’t me who thought the great idea of the one hundred hours tour,” Howie said, returning the hug. “I was perfectly happy staying in the continent.”

“Yeah, well, I keep telling my guys that we should branch out a little, there’s a reason why you guys are more popular than us outside the US.”

They found an empty table at the corner of the room, where they proceed to sit down and watch their friends. At the moment, Kevin was introducing his wife to someone, while they could see Justin and Britney joking around with Nick.

There was no sign of AJ. That made Chris frown. “Howie, I know I’m not the one keeping the score, but…”

“Let’s not think about the score right now,” Howie interrupted. “Please, Chris. Just one night, let’s not think about the score.”

Chris opened his mouth as if he wanted to dispute Howie, but sighed, thinking better of it. “You’re right, who cares about the score?”

“Chris,” Howie warned.

“Justin asked me how I haven’t driven you insane yet,” Chris smiled at Howie, changing the subject.

“Brian asked the same thing,” Howie smiled, relieved. “He thinks you’re a little too extreme for me.”

“You know me,” Chris shrugged. He didn’t really care about the opinion Howie’s bandmates. “I can’t stay still for long since, well, you know, since college ended.”

“Bullshit,” Howie shook his head, “You have never been able to stay still for long.”

“Except when I’m with you,” Chris remarked, and Howie didn’t have an answer for that.

They both knew it was true.

* * *

They had a grand total of six months together from the day they first kissed to the day of the accident, just a month before Chris’s course ended. After the kiss, it was normal to see them together, even when they still gave the other space and time to be with their other friends. Chris would appear when Howie’s classes ended, invite him to grab some lunch, and then go to his afternoon job. Sometimes, Howie would go with him, while other days, he would go back to his dorm alone.

It was routine, but it was their routine, and it was enough for them.

The day of the accident was no different; they didn’t do anything that was out of the ordinary. Howie had ended his classes earlier, so they had spent a lazy hour at campus, talking about their plans. Howie had gone to an audition for a singing group earlier in the month, and even when he was sure he hadn’t got in, he was starting to consider the possibility of dedicating his life to show business. Chris had always had the dream of forming a group, so they spend the afternoon making plans. They could be in a group together, Chris firmly believed, if they found more singers.

The accident had been that, just an accident. There had been no reason behind it, except perhaps faulty brakes on a bus. It really didn’t matter to them. What mattered to Chris was that he had turned just in time to see the bus coming straight towards Howie, who hadn’t seen it. What mattered to Chris was that he ran towards Howie, to push him out of the way, perhaps a second too late.

After that, nothing really mattered anymore.

* * *

“What are your intentions towards Howie?” Nick asked when Chris went to greet the Backstreet Boys. It was the first time the group had been seen in public since the announcement of AJ’s rehab, and Chris had wanted to offer his moral support.

“My intentions towards Howie?” Chris repeated, looking confused from Nick to Howie, who was standing behind his blond friend trying not to laugh. “I have no idea what you’re talking about Nick.”

“You know exactly what I mean,” Nick frowned. It warmed Chris’s heart, in a way, to see Nick so protective of his friend. Of course, said warmth was not enough to make Chris not fear the kid. While he had known Nick when Nick was smaller than himself, Nick had grown taller than Howie in the last few years, making him a very intimidating younger brother. Also, Chris had the feeling that if Nick didn’t like his answer, he would be backed up by the wonder cousins, who were a lot more intimidating than Nick.

“We could ask Howie the same thing.” Fortunately for Chris, he wasn’t alone. Justin had heard the conversation and apparently appointed himself as the protector of Chris’s virtue. “You know, since he’s always calling Chris and all.”

While Chris was perfectly happy to see the two younger members of both groups playing mother hen for them, Howie didn’t seem to find the situation that fun.

“We’re together,” Howie said, smiling at Chris’s shocked expression. It wasn’t a secret, and Chris had never wanted to keep that part of their relationship a secret, but they both had agreed that maybe it was better to wait to tell their bandmates until their lives were less busy. “We’ve been together for almost seven years.”

“Nine,” Chris automatically corrected. It worked that way with them. Howie kept the score, Chris kept the years. If he got his way, there would be many years to come. “Since Valencia.”

“And why didn’t you tell us?” Justin turned around to see Chris, punching him playfully in the shoulder. “We’re your friends, Chris!”

“It’s complicated,” Chris muttered, looking at Howie. Complicated was understating the issue, and they both knew it. They also knew that there were some things that had to be explained if they wanted to keep seeing each other without resorting to more elaborated measures. They couldn't outright lie, but they had to omit some truths.

“We didn’t know if it was going to work with us in different groups,” Howie said, softly. “But if you ask me, I’m pretty much planning for this to last for a long time.”

“Forever, D,” Chris said, smiling.

He was pretty sure that the fact that Justin and Nick had no problem with their relationship would count for a couple of points in the final score.

* * *

Death was over-rated, if they asked Chris.

There was no pearly gates, no flaming pits of hell –not that Chris thought he deserved that- nothing. It was just a blank nothingness, which went as far as he could see.

He knew he was dead. He remembered quite clearly the fear he had felt when he saw Howie in front of the bus, and even more clearly the pain of said bus hitting him as he tried to push Howie out of the way. There was no way that he could remember how that felt and still be alive.

Of course, he was sure he was going to die of boredom again if nothing happened.

He thought time passed –without anything it was hard to figure out if time was passing or not- and he suspected that maybe he hadn’t died. Maybe he was in a coma, surrounded by wires and machines keeping him alive.

The mere mental image made him shudder, and not only at the thought of his mom having to pay for hospital bills.

A long time later, when Chris was starting to consider the possibility of hell being the most boring place in the universe, there was movement on the horizon. To Chris’s surprise, it was Howie, walking with someone who looked a lot like George Burns.

“I sure hope you’re not who I think you are,” Chris said, after hugging Howie out of relief. Maybe they were both dead, but seeing him again was enough for Chris, at least for a while.

“Not the boss, if that’s what you’re asking,” The older man said. “Although I played him on movies and TV. Well enough to get a job around here.”

“We’re dead, Chris,” Howie said, as if that explained everything.

And it did, mostly. Mr. Burns, because it was really the old actor, explained how things worked on Heaven. He told them that given their youth, their lives, and the fact that they had died together and in love, they had two choices.

They could choose to reincarnate, and hope that fate was kind to them and they could find each other again, or take a job with them. If they were successful as guardian angels, they could work together until the end of times.

Chris had his answer before Mr. Burns ended the question, and Howie backed him up every step of the way.

Maybe they were young, and maybe forever was a long time. But both agreed that it was better than just loosing what they had.

* * *

“How long have we been doing this?” Chris asked, sitting on the roof of Howie’s house. One of the advantages of their new situation was that they could choose to be invisible if they wanted, so they could enjoy the view without worrying that someone would take an incriminating picture.

“Twelve years, to the day,” Howie smiled, his head on Chris’s lap. He was wearing his hair long, even when it looked short in the pictures because he knew Chris liked it long. He said it made him look the part. “And I think we’ve done good work.”

“You’re the one keeping the score, but I’m guessing since Kevin decided to settle as a family man, AJ has been sober for four years, and Joey finally got married, we’ve got enough points for a month together, right?”

“More than a month, since Lance and Brian never gave us much trouble anyway,” Howie smiled. Brian wasn’t his best friend in the group, but he sure was his favorite. They could always count on Brian to do the right thing. “Justin is still faithful to Cameron, right?”

“Justin has never cheated on a girlfriend in his life, you know that,” Chris kissed Howie’s forehead. “He’s like me in a way.”

“God forbid, one of you is more than enough for me,” Howie joked. “We’re doing well. We’ve followed the rules, not acting like their mothers. They make the choices by themselves, and that’s good, right? We just provide the example.”

“I provide the example, you let Brian do it,” Chris said, smiling. “We’re a good team, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, we are. How’s little Brianna?” Howie hadn’t been sure what it meant that two of their charges were having children, but a quick consultation with their boss –not the big Boss, just the angel in charge of all the guardian angels- confirmed that both Brianna and Baylee, as well as any other kid born to any of the eight guys under Chris and Howie’s protection would also be on their watch.

“Growing faster every day, and she’s the most loved girl in the whole world. She doesn’t need a guardian angel when she has three over protective uncles, you know? And that’s not counting the Fatone family.”

“Baylee is like that too,” Howie smiled. “We’re lucky, we’ve got easy jobs, all things considered.”

“We’ve also got the Carter family,” Chris was amusing himself braiding Howie’s hair. “Which, if you ask me, needs an army of guardian angels, just to keep up with their mom.”

“But Nick came out all right, so did Aaron after a few missteps,” Howie pointed out. “Hey, you managed to keep JC on the positive side of the score despite his obsession with the subject of sex, so that’s also a point in our favor. We could’ve had it a lot worse. You could’ve ended up as, I don’t know, Marshall Mathers’s guardian.”

“It would’ve been hard to influence him when he wants to kick my ass,” Chris agreed, before looking up to the sky. Howie followed his eyes, fixed on the bright stars above and didn’t add anything else.

With both groups on temporary hiatus -*N Sync officially disbanded, the Backstreet Boys resting while they decided what to do now that Kevin had retired- they had more time to be together, and they spent most of that time silent, enjoying each other company.

From time to time Chris would interrupt the silence with a silly question, or a joke, but they would end up enjoying the quiet again. Howie didn’t mind.

He was starting to suspect that the silence was Chris’s way to tell him he loved him.


End file.
